Kenrith Legendary/Activated ability - yet another Kenrith deck?

User avatar
Outcryqq
Posts: 441
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: Indiana, USA

Post by Outcryqq » 3 years ago

I have a borderless Kenrith, the Returned King and it's gorgeous. I'd like to use it. But Kenrith seems very powerful, and my meta doesn't play many ultra-powerful lists. So I wanted to make a respectable Kenrith list while trying to achieve the following: moderately strong, but not OP, on theme, avoid tutors, cheap mana base, use cards that I don't normally get to use. And while Zirda, the Dawnwaker is in the 99, I wanted to avoid using her as a companion AND avoid an infinite combo with her via Basalt Monolith or Grim Monolith.

With those restrictions, I decided to build a list that focuses on legendary creatures and activated abilities. I'm willing to consider cards that are off-theme, but they'd have to be amazing in order to be in consideration. The list of "maybe" cards is extensive, but I appreciate all ideas! I've brewed this with my play group already but the more eyes the better.

Sorry for "yet another" Kenrith deck, I'm sure people are sick of seeing them. However, he's so versatile that I feel like you can build him so many ways!

Decklist

Commander - 1

Approximate Total Cost:

Themes:
  • Legendary Creatures: the most obvious theme, most of my creatures are legendary, with pumps from Arvad, some indestructible from General's Enforcer, brings online the legendary sorceries, and I don't get to play with a lot of these creatures.
  • Activated Abilities: this was a difficult choice, but I wanted to take advantage of the fact that I was already using four cards that reduce the cost of activated abilities. I found that many good activated abilities are just tap abilities, so I tried to find ones where the cost reduction might be relevant. I also tried to get a lot of my deck's bread and butter from activated abilities: removal, ramp, recursion.
  • Haste: this one I'm less sold on, but with all these activated abilities, I guessed that haste would be a premium. I recognize that my commander already can grant haste, so I tried to choose sources of haste that add other things to my list, like uncounterable (Rhythm of the Wild) or flash (Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage).
  • Tokens: I wasn't sure how I was going to close out games besides attacking with some random legendary creatures, so I figured that a massive amount of tokens would be a decent way. With cost reducers, my token generators should make a good number of tokens a turn. I also have Jazal Goldmane in there as a way to close out games with multiple attackers, whether they're legendary creatures or tokens makes little difference to me.
  • Mana symbols matter: I am not dedicating a good mana base to this list, but the list is mana-intensive and color-intensive (hence no Sol Ring, though that may change). That being said, I wanted a large number of cards that let my lands tap for any color. That's why you see the likes of Joiner Adept, Prismatic Omen, Chromatic Lantern, and Dryad of the Ilysian Grove.
Maybe:
  • Sisay, Weatherlight Captain, Captain Sisay, and Yisan, the Wanderer Bard are great, but they tutor. If the deck sucks really badly, I might put them back in. But for now, they're out.
  • Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded is a great card, but I found my deck lacking in good red/artifact creatures that are good to sneak out. Despite having reliable access to creature recursion, and despite the mass haste, I abandoned him. If I find some good red/artifact dudes that will play well with his ability, I will give him another look.
  • Thrasios, Triton Hero is great, but probably too strong. And my one copy is a general in another deck.
  • Tasigur, the Golden Fang is a solid legendary with a good activated ability...but my general's recursion is simply better.
  • Erebos, God of the Dead, Kefnet the Mindful, Thassa, God of the Sea, Nylea, God of the Hunt: these gods are solid, but generally my commander has better abilities than them.
  • Blackblade Reforged: I didn't want to cut this card, but the list was getting tight, and while this is flavorful and thematic, it didn't seem as strong as the other inclusions.
  • OG Dragons like Crosis, the Purger: I originally was a dummy and thought these triggered abilities would have their costs reduced by all my sources that reduce the cost of activated abilities...until I realized they wouldn't. Though Zirda, the Dawnwaker would still reduce the cost, I didn't think they were thematic at that point.
  • Ashnod's Altar and other free sac outlets: they seem good, maybe too good? With my commander online, and with cost reducers, I suspect there are infinite combos out there. I'm not wholly against a few sac outlets, but I'm wary of them making this deck more powerful than I want.
  • Urza, Lord High Artificer: great card, on theme, probably too powerful.
Last edited by Outcryqq 3 years ago, edited 3 times in total.

Tags:

User avatar
pokken
Posts: 6276
Joined: 4 years ago
Answers: 2
Pronoun: he / him

Post by pokken » 3 years ago

I like Fertilid a lot in this configuration.


User avatar
Outcryqq
Posts: 441
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: Indiana, USA

Post by Outcryqq » 3 years ago

As expected, the deck is slow and not entirely synergistic. But the mana sucks even more than I expected, so I added shock lands.

User avatar
Crazy Monkey
Arcane Themes
Posts: 571
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico, US

Post by Crazy Monkey » 3 years ago

If you're looking for more legendary creatures which generate tokens via activated abilities, I'd highly recommend Nemata, Grove Guardian as an option. With reduction it would be a 1:1 mana for tokens, and the sacrifice ability lets an attack's damage scale up quickly for alpha strikes.

The times that I considered a token swarm for my own legendary deck, it was to support Shattergang Brothers, so that might work as a way for you to keep the battlefield clear of blockers. If that option is appealing, Heliod, God of the Sun or Feldon of the Third Path, or even Memnarch could fuel the other abilities for non-creature removal. This all becomes much more efficient with Zirda, the Dawnwaker.

Another option which compliments Geth, Lord of the Vault is Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter, which could let you re-use an opponent's EtB effect while also killing creatures for future theft. Empress Galina skips straight to direct theft, and The Scarab God could be a more efficient way to have combined theft and graveyard hate.
Commander Decks


Kemba | Kytheon | Talrand | Unesh | Teferi | Geth | primer Zada | Krenko | Torbran | Patron Orochi | Ghalta | Gargos | Medomai | The Count | Xenagos | Nikya | Jaheira, Artisan | Trostani | Athreos | Jarad | Ivy | Nin | Krark & Sakashima | Feather | Osgir | Gisela | Roon | Chulane | Sydri | Ertai | Mairsil | Vial & Malcolm | Prossh | Marath | Marisi | Syr Gwyn | Riku | Riku | Animar | Ghave | Tasigur | Muldrotha | Rayami | Zedruu | Yidris | Kynaios & Tiro | Saskia | Tymna & Kydele | Atraxa | Akiri & Silas | Sisay | Ur Dragon | Bridge | Horde | Najeela | Genju | Traxos



User avatar
Outcryqq
Posts: 441
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: Indiana, USA

Post by Outcryqq » 3 years ago

Thanks Crazy Monkey!
  • Shattergang Brothers is a good call! I think I will try to find a spot to add him.
  • I like Feldon of the Third Path but I found that most of my artifacts are not worth it.
  • I had Memnarch in there but I took him out - I think he's too powerful for what I'm trying to accomplish.
  • Nemata, Grove Guardian is good, so I have to compare to my other token makers: Slimefoot, the Stowaway is more expensive, but I get the draining the board and he comes down much earlier. However, he also creates saprolings so perhaps there's some potential synergy there. Oketra the True has a more expensive ability, but the dudes have vigilance, not sure if that's worth it, though she does come down two turns earlier and is hard to remove. Faerie Formation is incredible because it gives me token generation AND card draw. And Oona, Queen of the Fae is the same CMC but that ability is much more powerful. What would you cut to add Nemata?
  • The Scarab God is good, but and adds an element of graveyard hate to my deck that would be welcomed, but I only own one copy and it fits better there (Lord of Tresserhorn zombie tribal).
  • Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter and Empress Galina are interesting choices, they almost add another focus to the deck - theft. I'm not sure if I am already spread too thin on themes, but they are a possibility.
What would you cut?

User avatar
Crazy Monkey
Arcane Themes
Posts: 571
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: New Mexico, US

Post by Crazy Monkey » 3 years ago

First, I should note that Feldon of the Third Path makes copies of creatures, as artifacts. I may have misread you, but it seemed like you flipped the permanent types that he targets.

Regarding cuts, these are the ones that seem the most logical to me based on my understanding of your focus/theme.
  • Hanna, Ship's Navigator seems good to expand the recursion options, but I'm not sure if she offers much beyond recurring Training Grounds. She seems the most out of place in my opinion.
  • A friend of mine had an Oona, Queen of the Fae deck which could mill people out, but was intermittent at creating tokens when playing against decks with 2+ colors (without Painter's Servant). This seems like a reasonable cut if you're focused on the tokens.
  • Syr Konrad, the Grim seems a lot like Slimefoot, the Stowaway here, but without the token generation and a more common trigger. Is this mostly to punish board wipes, or have you been triggering it via your own sacrifice/recursion or milling?
  • This comment might seem odd, but a lot of cards/abilities have either no color requirement or a double color requirement. I'm not sure Jegantha, the Wellspring is the most efficient here except with Golos, Tireless Pilgrim. I'm not entirely sure that 'not using ALL the mana from the big mana dork' is a good reason for a cut, but it looks like an inefficiency.
Commander Decks


Kemba | Kytheon | Talrand | Unesh | Teferi | Geth | primer Zada | Krenko | Torbran | Patron Orochi | Ghalta | Gargos | Medomai | The Count | Xenagos | Nikya | Jaheira, Artisan | Trostani | Athreos | Jarad | Ivy | Nin | Krark & Sakashima | Feather | Osgir | Gisela | Roon | Chulane | Sydri | Ertai | Mairsil | Vial & Malcolm | Prossh | Marath | Marisi | Syr Gwyn | Riku | Riku | Animar | Ghave | Tasigur | Muldrotha | Rayami | Zedruu | Yidris | Kynaios & Tiro | Saskia | Tymna & Kydele | Atraxa | Akiri & Silas | Sisay | Ur Dragon | Bridge | Horde | Najeela | Genju | Traxos



User avatar
Outcryqq
Posts: 441
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: Indiana, USA

Post by Outcryqq » 3 years ago

You're right, I had Feldon all wrong, seems good!

I have Hanna in there primarily because she recurs half my cost reducers (Training Grounds and Heartstone), and i didn't really have other ways to get them back.

I still think Oona's ability is strong, if a bit inconsistent. Syr Konrad is strong both because I'm a creature heavy deck and my dudes die a lot, but also because I rely upon recursion from my commander, which triggers as well.

You're right, Jegantha is probably not the best idea, I just had him laying around and thought "hey, and 5 color legendary dork in a 5 color legendary deck!" without more thought. Definitely cuttable.

Thanks for your help!


Post Reply Previous topicNext topic

Return to “Decklists”